Archive for the ‘drawings’ Category

I love the serendipity of the Internet. I was Googling for camping spaces in Albuquerque and somehow I came across a vacation Bible school camp for kids that involved drawing with Draw Squad’s own Mark Kistler. . . in Albuquerque. And in that post, which I continued to read, not because I was interested in VBS but because I am interested in the way Kistler teaches, it mentioned a book for adults who want to learn to draw 3D objects. So, of course, since there was a link to the book and it led to Amazon, I ordered the book, You can draw in 30 days. This is Lesson 3. . . of 28. Each lesson is 20 minutes or less. I’ve graduated from spheres to cubes and I can’t wait to see what happens next. I’m not going to peek ahead.

But so far, even though I’m drawing the exact objects that he says to draw, I’m learning a lot about what makes an image 3 dimensional. For my artist friends. . . well you are so far beyond me and will likely remain. I don’t need to try to impress you. But for those of you who say you can’t draw. . . this is yet another lesson to the contrary. I’m sure that this will enhance my sketchnoting.

I might post more, say when we get into 2 point perspective . . . or maybe sooner. And I’m learning to love pencils again.

Oh, I really wandered off. How would I have learned about this book if I hadn’t wandered off then, drawn by something bright and shiny in the corner of my eye? If our search engines get too smart, what will that mean for this kind of serendipity, fueled by mild curiosity?

I’m so excited!!!! I’ve been asked to provide Sketchnote frameworks for TEDx San Antonio 2012. It’s hard not to end each sentence with an exclamation point. We’re going to try out something new to see if we can create a piece of memory graphiti from each talk. I have 8 more to produce, but I thought I’d share the What is Sketchnoting? And Rules for Collaborative Sketchnoting here to see what you think. If you saw one of these, were excited by a presentation you had just seen and found colored markers and sticky notes and an encouraging voice saying, “Go ahead. Add something,” would you do it?

I’ve completed the five modules in Butts in Seats, which I first wrote about here. If you are considering adding a line of workshops to your business, I can’t recommend this webinar series strongly enough. It was worth every penny. I learned at least three things that I hadn’t thought about in each module. That means that I paid about $30 for each tip and they were absolutely worth it.

However, it’s got the same caveat that many how to webinars do. It teaches you what to do and how to do it. What remains after is that you now know how much work there is remaining.

This webinar is geared toward creating a new line of business and not about filling one workshop. That said, you are always free to select the tasks based on how much work you want to do and how badly you need to fill the seats.

I’ve completed three of Daphne Bosquet’s sessions now, one that was a freebie and two that were part of her commercial Butts in Seats workshop.

Each one contains lots of real value, even to someone like me who was an ad hoc marketer for many, many years. But the most exciting pieces for me were three killer ideas with 1, 2, 3, instructions. There was one in each session.

They are something that I can use right now and can add to a future toolkit. And I have never found them anywhere else. Thank you, Daphne, for sharing your secrets!!!

I have Sketchnoted all three sessions. You can see the two from the commercial workshop here. Still need to photograph the other.

Recommendation: If you are planning to develop and market a workshop, don’t move forward without Daphne’s brilliant assistance!

Just in case you’re still interested in visual thinking, here’s another curriculum map.

First, an update on the course I was taking on Graphic Facilitation. For me, it was a bust. It was a course taught by a seasoned professional who didn’t have the heart of an educator.

Educators are generous with their knowledge and with their audience. This guy wasn’t. Most learner requests or suggestions were answered with a quick “No, we’re not doing that.” Often the response was that we were the test group so we were half price and shouldn’t feel as if we would get the full package. Or that they were really busy right now with their business and family and couldn’t really do more. Sorry. A variety of “No” answers.

I quit halfway through. I have to admit that I probably knew from the first paid course I took from this same group that this wasn’t going to be a great experience. However, I hoped I was wrong ’cause this was a more expensive offer. It wasn’t. Yeah, I fell twice. And now, NEVER AGAIN.

I am now taking a different paid online course, called Butts in Seats by Daphne Bosquet. It’s about how to market a workshop. . . to the right audience.

Here’s the lesson. It’s about buying decision making and it’s a bit of a “Duh.”

If you are going to spend a significant amount of money on an online learning product, do your research. If there is a free offering, check it out. If the free one doesn’t share BIG value with you, don’t sign up for the paid one. This is also true for white papers and research. If they don’t offer big value as a trial, they’re not going to offer big value. Period.

I tried Daphne out by taking her free one hour webinar where she shares 5 marketing tips for filling a workshop. It was BRILLIANT!!! There were at least three tips that I walked away with that had BIG value. Two I might have come up with on my own, but the one was a mind blower. And it was practical. 1. Do this, 2.go here to do it 3. here’s what it will cost 4. here’s what you do once you have it.

The result of her generosity is that I have since signed up and paid for her Butts in Seats workshop and I’ve attended the first session. Again, she delivers value beyond the cost, from the first encounter.

My buying lesson is, if it’s not great from the start, it’s likely not going to get better. If there isn’t a free sample offered that blows you away, the chance that it will blow you away once you pay for it is slim. My selling lesson is, if you sell an online course (or any kind of course) based on your expertise, you have opened a window into the value of a relationship with you. Deliver big value or risk your reputation.

Okay, enough. That map. I put these up here so that you can steal any metaphor images you like and add them to your collection.

Do you know about fiverr.com? It’s one of the great values of being connected to the web, of staying current with what’s out there and what’s happening. It’s also one of the benefits of having a brother who stays out there and stays current since he’s the one who told me about it.

Fiverr.com has a list of things that people will do in exchange for $5. The commerce system is built in so that you choose the offering you want and pay through fiverr. They manage the rest. There are micro-products and services from around the world. A cute kid will record a video of himself delivering your bad news, ’cause as he says, it’s easier to accept when it’s delivered by a cute kid. People will create colorful QR codes. They’ll build web intros. All for $5.

Fiverr may be one of the last great values. For example, I found someone who was willing to create an original cartoon image from a photo. . . for $5.

Here’s the photo

Yes, it’s a rare thing, in and of itself.

And here’s the cartoon.

And here are two things that the cartoon has become.

All for $5!!!!

What would you buy for $5? I warn you, you can get lost for a long time on the site. And it’s dangerous! I just published the post and clicked the link to make sure it worked. When I got to the fiverr site, someone had posted an offer on the front page for two pieces of felt breakfast toast.

I DIDN’T KNOW THAT I NEEDED THEM. But they’re on their way to me right now. Sigh.

The next assignment was to draw how we would care for ourselves and post it near our desks. I always re-imagine my assignments ’cause they are for MY learning, not the instructors, just like I did when I asked my economics prof if I could answer a different question than the one he asked ’cause we had already covered that point. I wrote a haiku about real estate supply and demand. Well, someone had to.

So here is a drawing showing facilitation challenges and actions that I can take to address, compensate for or just redirect my attention away from.

I’m learning to draw big with these BIG Copic markers. I think what I need from them are light colors to use as washes. The ones that I love are these big brush markers — much more easy for me to control. What kinds of tools do you use in the moment on paper that work for you? I’m searching.